When former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Ben Proud signed up for the Enhanced Games, UK Sport’s Director of Performance called it “incredibly sad.” Still, that hasn’t stopped athletes from joining. Around 15 top-tier swimmers, including James Magnussen, Kristian Gkolomeev, and others, are now on board. Seeing so many big names take part, a four-time Olympic gold medalist has publicly slammed those competing in this highly controversial event.

“We want kids to look at someone like McEvoy, who has incredible integrity, but is also willing to take risks, try something new, and do that within the rules set by the sport,” Cate Campbell said in comments first reported by Wide World of Sports.

“Relying on performance-enhancing drugs is a lazy way to get to high performance. (Athletes using) Performance-enhancing drugs are called cheats for a reason. Instead of wanting to do the work, they are putting something artificial into their body to help enhance their performance.”

And Campbell’s criticism comes from experience and achievement. Widely regarded as one of Australia’s greatest relay swimmers, she has won six Olympic medals in relays, including four golds, and two individual Olympic medals over her long career. But during her time, she saw how doping affected the sport.

In 2019, fellow Australian swimmer Shayna Jack tested positive for Ligandrol, a banned substance. Seeing this, Campbell states that it is disappointing to see the normalization of the concept through events like the Enhanced Games.

She added that if athletes spent “all of that time, money, and research” on better training, nutrition, and preparation, sport would still be far from discovering “what we human beings are truly capable of, because there’s still so much about ourselves that we don’t know.” Campbell sees Cameron McEvoy as an example that clean athletes can achieve.

On March 20, McEvoy broke the 50 m freestyle world record at the China Open under normal, drug-free conditions. He beat the previous mark of 20.91 seconds set by Cesar Cielo in 2009 during the “super suit” era, and even surpassed the unofficial Enhanced Games time of 20.89 seconds. At 31, McEvoy showed that banned substances are not needed to shatter records.

“I think it had hype but not credibility,” Campbell said, referring to the Enhanced Games. Even as athletes like James Magnussen, 3x Olympic medallist have joined the event, she remains concerned about the message it sends to the sports world.

“It’s really heartening to see how few athletes have transitioned over,” Campbell said. “I understand the draw of it because athletes, particularly in Olympic sports, are not properly remunerated. They’re not able to earn as much as they would be able to if they were in another professional sport. It speaks to the real integrity of people who go into Olympic sports that there are so few people that have been tempted to go across for a really big payday.”

With all the controversy surrounding the Enhanced Games, one question keeps coming up: why are athletes signing up for an event that allows performance-enhancing drugs? Well, they have their reasons.

Why are athletes joining the Enhanced Games?

The main reason athletes are joining EG is money! Each individual event at the Enhanced Games reportedly offers around $500,000 in total prize money, with roughly $250,000 going to the winner. On top of that, there are million-dollar bonuses for breaking world records in flagship events, like the 50 m freestyle in swimming or the 100 m sprint.

By comparison, mainstream competitions offer record bonuses of just $10,000 to $30,000, making the financial incentive at the Enhanced Games enormous.

James Magnussen, one of the leading figures, signed on and has openly talked about the potential financial boost such money could offer retired athletes. Magnussen said he plans to “…juice to the gills … break it in six months” and added that the money could set him up for the next decade. He also highlighted the fact that sport is entertainment in essence, and even gets too serious. “This is not for everyone, and it is certainly not something for young athletes,” he said.

Outside money, other athletes make their involvement a choice about their freedom of choice with their own bodies and careers. They view it as an opportunity to compete under a medically regulated setting as opposed to secretly using performance enhancement.

Others view the Enhanced Games as a new challenge or an opportunity to extend their careers. For instance, Ben Proud said: “I think opens up the potential avenue to excel in a very different way. Realistically, I’ve achieved ­everything I can, and now the Enhanced is giving me a new opportunity. I definitely don’t think that’s undermining a clean sport….”

But not all athletes joining the event actually plan to use banned substances. Even during the event, several swimmers, such as Hunter Armstrong, have declared that they would be swimming clean despite their participation due to the financial incentives of professional swimming as well as the wish to take part in the event.

Taking to his Instagram, he wrote, “I want to be very clear … I am joining the Enhanced Games as a clean athlete. I will NOT be taking any banned substances and I WILL be continuing my path to win gold on home soil in L.A.”

At 25, Armstrong grabbed gold in the 2023 Worlds 50m backstroke and 2024 Worlds 100m backstroke. He boasts five more relay triumphs with Team USA. Plus, three Olympic medals shine on his resume, all relays, including Tokyo 2020’s 4x100m medley gold and Paris 2024’s 4x100m freestyle gold.

He’s gearing up for the 50m back and 100m free at the Enhanced Games. Financial woes hit hard after losing his primary sponsor last year. ESPN caught his raw take on why he’s diving in.

“If I don’t join Enhanced, I lose everything. If I do join Enhanced, I have a chance at not losing everything. My back was against the wall, so I had to reopen that conversation to see if it was a plausible option.”

Although the Enhanced Games remain controversial, many athletes see their participation as about more than just money. It’s also a matter of personal choice, autonomy, and the chance to extend their careers.